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Monday, 31 December 2018

It's New Year's Eve, so what better way to end the year than sharing my final images for the 2018 52 week project I've been creating. I'm really looking forward to getting these in to a photobook tomorrow and seeing them in print. And I think these images from November & December are some of my favourites of the year...

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

It feels kinda silly writing this post today as I kinda already said the majority of what I wanted to say last week. But I wanted to give you guys a chance to link-up one last time and say goodbye to your fellow Tuesday-linking buddines, so here is your chance.

I have made so many wonderful friends via blogging, and IBOT in particular, some who are still around in the blogging world, some who disappeared, and some who I continue to follow via being friends on Facebook.

Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Seven and a half years ago a blogger named Jess decided to start a little linky party and call it IBOT. IBOT stood for "I Blog on Tuesdays", and that first IBOT linky garnered 12 links. Links from bloggers who blogged on Tuesday and wanted their stuff to be read.

Since then there's been almost 400 IBOT linky parties, ranging from the 5 years at Essentially Jess to the last 2 and a half years here on this blog. In that time the blogging world has changed dramatically. I've been blogging for just under 10 years and I've seen so much change in that time. The internet & the blogging neighbourhood of the internet in particular, has undergone drastic changes and growth and it's been exciting to watch.

Tuesday, 20 November 2018

Can you believe we are already half way through November already?! I feel like Halloween was only yesterday and everyone was posting photos of their kids in cute costumes!

We're well & truly into the end-of-year run around here. It kicks off On Friday with Punky's birthday and then just picks up speed between now and December 25th! I decided earlier in the year that I wasn't going to step foot in a shopping centre this Christmas except to buy groceries and the few things I might not be able to source online, and so far it's looking like I might actually be able to keep that promise!

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

When I was little I loved the cartoon My Little Pony. I watched it all the time and I had some My Little Pony toys that I absolutely treasured. I remember coming home from school one day to find that my little sister and her friend had drawn all over my favourite pony with pen and I was devastated. There's nothing like a little sister to wreck all ya stuff!

Back in October I was sitting at my desk getting some work done when I got an email from a promotions company with information and a link to buy tickets to a special My Little Pony 35th anniversary celebration. As soon as I saw it I had to buy tickets for the girls and I because just like I was, the girls are both absolutely obsessed with My Little Pony.

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

It's 2am Tuesday morning and I'm only just now getting this post done. I know I should have done it earlier in the day, but I was working on other things, and then, well, we decided to go down to the river so the girls could have a paddle, Dave could fish, and I could play around with my new lens a little more.

Tuesday, 30 October 2018

I've been blogging for almost 10 years now and in that time I've seen a LOT of bloggers come and go. A LOT! Which is sad, because I've always enjoyed reading the blogs of Aussie writers & parents but I totally understand why so many have decided to leave the space. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of great Aussie bloggers out there to find & read, and with their blogs come great Instagram accounts as well.

Today I want to share 10 of my fave Instagram accounts of Aussie bloggers. This is in no way an extensive list, there are so many more that I love & follow but for the purposes of not making this a ridiculously long blog list, I'm just going to share a couple of handfuls today. So, in no particular order...

Tuesday, 23 October 2018

Yesterday we had the most glorious spring weather. It was just perfect! The last 3 weeks have been crazy, weather-wise. If it wasn't pouring with rain it was steamy and humid. Or there were crazy storms with everything... thunder, lightning, hail, you name it.

So when today decided to pull out an absolute cracker of a spring day, with the temperature just right, and the most divine, fresh breeze? Well, we couldn't waste that weather indoors! So we grabbed the girls (and I, of course, grabbed my camera!) and we headed down to the river for a spot of exploring.

Tuesday, 16 October 2018

And with this post, I'm all caught up with sharing my 52 week project photos.

At the end of every year I have all of the images printed in to a photo book and I now have those photos books sitting on a shelf in my office, right next to where I work. I love looking through them and seeing not only how the girls have grown, but how my skill as a photographer has grown too. It's a wonderful way to record those things, and I'm really looking forward to creating the photobook for 2018, I honestly think it's going to be my most favourite one yet...

Tuesday, 9 October 2018

Hello! How are you? Did you all enjoy the week off last week? I know I did! We're in week 2 of the school holidays today and the girls are about to go and stay at my Mum's for a few nights and I must say, I'm looking forward to the break.

Granted, I'll be working all that time, but it will be nice to work without the constant interruption of small people asking for food!

Tuesday, 25 September 2018

Oh my gosh, this last week has been so hectic! I can tell we're getting down to the business end of the year because the pace of life just keeps getting quicker & quicker. I am so looking forward to the school holidays, and in particular, the long weekend coming up.

We're heading down to Albury to celebrate my cousin's 40th birthday and have a little time out with the family. It's exactly what we need to have a chance to slow down and recharge the batteries, ready for the last charge of 2018.

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

I'm shooting a wedding this Saturday and in preparation, I decided to head over yesterday to check out where it's going to be and get a bit of an idea on what kind of light I'll have to work with on Saturday.

The wedding is being held at Eloura Beach at Cronulla and it's a beautiful spot. After the lovely weather of last week it was a bit of a shock to get there and find out how cold it was, but of course, that didn't stop the kids from wanting to get wet!

Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Time to share a few more photos that for one reason or another didn't make the cut when I first shot them, and that I've now gone back and edited because, well, I just really like them. If you'd like to know more about why I'm sharing these now, pop over and read this post, which will explain it all.

Tuesday, 21 August 2018

July was a good month. Despite having lots of work on we still managed to have lots of fun with the girls, and have a little 'parents only' Hawaiian holiday adventure (which also included some work, but honestly, I'm not even sure you can call it work when you're having fun doing something you love!).

So I've gotten a little behind in sharing July's 52 week portrait project images and I thought I would share them today. We are currently without internet which is super frustrating as my job depends on it, but hopefully the technician scheduled to arrive sometime today will be able to find the problem and get it sorted for us asap.

Tuesday, 14 August 2018

One of the gifts Zee got her for her 5th birthday, was the supplies to make a fairy garden from my Dad. There was enough for both girls to be able to create their own little space in the garden, and it was perfect timing because we have been thinking about doing something with the old herb garden bed and this was the perfect solution!

It's not quite finished yet, and we still have some clay fairy houses and other ornaments to decorate and then put in the garden, as well as some new flowers in bright colours that we want to add in too.

Tuesday, 7 August 2018

Last week my baby turned 5. FIVE!!! I really can't understand how that can happen coz I'm pretty sure she was only born last week! It's amazing how fast this time of our life has flown by. The baby/toddler days seemed endless, like they would go on forever. And yet...

...and yet, here we are, less than 6 months away from my last baby starting school. As of next year I'll be the Mum of nothing but school kids. They'll both be off my hands 5 days a week, something I looked forward to with longing when I had two kids under 2 and felt like I wouldn't make it through the day (or the sleepless nights!).

On this day we decided to explore the side of the bridge that we hardly ever visit, and so it was that we discovered that areas that have been under water on previous visits were now high and dry and just waiting for us to explore. So explore we did, with a trek along the river, and then a bush-wack on the way back...

Tuesday, 24 July 2018

Aloha! While strolling around the streets of Waikiki this morning it suddenly dawned on me that there was one thing I totally forgot to do before I left Sydney... write today's blog post! So here I am at the hotel, bashing out a quick post so you guys can still have some linky fun while I'm gone. In fact I'll actually be touching back down in Australia this afternoon, around 3pm, but as I type this it's 12:47pm on Sunday here in Wakiki.

Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Of all the photography groups I'm in on Facebook, there is one that reigns supreme. It's the Clickin' Moms Aus/NZ group. It's a small group of Aussie & Kiwi photographers who are members of the Clickin' Moms forum and also just a bunch of really great people.

For the purposes of not making this post too long, I've chosen 10 of my fellow CM ladies to introduce to you today, though I could definitely have done heaps, heaps more! These guys were just the first ladies who popped up on my feed as I was scrolling through IG this arvo, so here they are, in no particular order. You should totally go and follow them all...

Tuesday, 10 July 2018

It's no secret that I take a lot of photos. So far this year alone I've snapped off around 17 and a half thousand frames. Not all of those frames are personal images obviously, there's quite a lot that have been taken in the course of my work and that number does also include some of the video clips I've shot for various films.

I don't edit all of those images either. There are many times when there are multiple images in a row with only slight variances, owing to the fact that I'm shooting fast-moving children and in those cases shooting in burst modes improves the likelihood that you'll get a couple of keepers.

Tuesday, 3 July 2018

Seriously, how is it July already?! I feel like June just got away from me, with so much work in the studio and travel to and from said work. Not to mention then spending my at-home days doing more work! Hectic! It's not all bad though, because being July it's now Hawaii month!!! Dave and I will be jetting off in 18 days and I am so excited!

I finally booked our accommodation so now I'm not worried about having to sleep on the street, and if some of the invoices I'm waiting on finally get paid we might actually be able to enjoy some great meals in fabulous restaurants while we're there too!

Tuesday, 26 June 2018

Over the weekend we had a little (and I do mean little!) get together for my birthday. My Brother-in-law, his fiancee, and my sister-in-law came round with a new fire pit and we brewed up some mulled wine and introduced the girls to s'mores.

The girls both tried one and seemed to enjoy it, but to be honest they were way more interested in just toasting (and setting fire to) the marshmallows. The adults, however, thoroughly enjoyed the s'mores. And the mulled wine, perhaps a bit too much, judging by the epic hangover I was nursing on Sunday!

Tuesday, 19 June 2018

Man, was that weekend just gone a crazy one. Ok, so actually I'm talking about the last 4 days, but they are the days of between my freelance job happening in the city at the moment, so essentially my weekend. That's not to say that I'm sitting around doing nothing, oh no. I actually spent the vast majority of the weekend working, catching up on all the stuff I would normally do on those three days I'm at home (and have no children).

I did still find some time for some personal stuff though, namely, trying out a new-to-me photography technique. Freelensing is nothing new, people have been doing it for years and years, but I only gave it a try for the first time on Saturday and man, am I glad I did.

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

As most of you would know by now I sometimes do a bit of work for the parenting website Ellaslist. We head to different places in and around Sydney to check out what's on offer and review some of the best places to take kids.

This long-weekend we headed over to Calmsley Hill City Farm and despite the rain we had an absolute ball! I won't write much as there will be a full-review of our visit up on Ellaslist really soon, but I took so many photos on the day that I don't want them to go to waste so I thought I'd share them as a visual diary of our visit here today...

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

I must apologise in advance and say now that the next few weeks of IBOT are going to be pretty light on the words. I have a lot of work coming up, and I'm not sure just how much time I'll have for writing, shooting & editing. Having said that, if you'd like to contribute a guest post for IBOT, for me to publish on a Tuesday I would be more than happy to host you here! Just shoot me an email to kylie@kyliepurtell.com if you're interested!

Tuesday, 29 May 2018

If you've followed this blog for a while, or you follow me on Instagram, then it's no secret that I am pretty well obsessed with the colours & light of autumn. There is just something in those stunning reds, oranges, and browns that speaks to me. And don't even get me started on the beautiful contrast of orange & blue. I just love it.

I look forward to autumn every year. I'm lucky that where I live there is no shortage of autumn colour (once the season actually arrives that is, which seems to be later and later every year!). But it's not just the colours, it's the fact that we can finally go outside for lovely long walks without melting all over the path, and we don't have to stay out till well past dinnertime to be able to enjoy the beautiful sunsets.

Tuesday, 22 May 2018

May, oh May, where have you gone. Less than 10 days left of you I really can't believe it. The year is almost half over?!?!?! Seriously, time is SUCH a thief! It's really not fair!

Life is a little bit crazy right now, I've gone from having a wide open to calendar to realising that the end-of-year busyness has moved up it's schedule and has moved in 4 months early! I can't complain though, it's wonderful to have so many things to do and places to be, especially when they are all such fun. But gosh, the logistics can sometimes be such a punish, can't they?!

Tuesday, 15 May 2018

I'm back from my photography girls weekend away and let me say, it was absolutely, without a doubt, exactly what I needed! Aside from getting the chance to meet some fabulous ladies who I've long admired, it was a really good chance to relax and recharge. I've actually come back feeling really re-energised and happier than I've been in a long time. I honestly didn't realise just how badly I needed that time away.

Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Right now I am currently on the Gold Coast attending a retreat with a lovely bunch of photographer friends, eating good food, drinking good wine and talking non-stop about photography and all things life. So far it's been fabulous, and I know it's going to be bittersweet when it's time to go home.

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

What a crazy month April was!!! Kicking off with Easter Sunday, followed the next day by a mammoth trip to check out the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium and Sydney Wildlife Zoo for ellaslist, then a couple of weeks of school, the launch of the FilmingLife Academy and throwing in a couple of weeks of school holidays to boot! It has been full-on and we really did pack in a lot this month!

I also found the time to go and hang out with Kylie from Kidgredients and her beautiful family to help them update their family portraits. I've blogged some of my favourite images from their family session over on my business blog and I would be so super appreciated if you have the time to go check them out by clicking here.

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

Week Two of the holidays started yesterday, and the girls and I made the most of the beautiful weather we've been having (not too hot and not too cold for a change!) and headed over to meet my Dad, sister & nephew for a visit to the Auburn Botanic & Japanese Garden.

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

It's finally the school holidays here in Sydney, and unlike a lot of parents I actually really enjoy the holidays. It gives us all a chance to rest and recharge, and I love the fact that I don't have to make lunches or put on clothes every day if I don't feel like it. Or wash uniforms or wash lunchboxes sticky with yoghurt!

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

March was a pretty good month, all things considered. There was a couple of weeks there that I felt in a bit of a rut creatively, but I sucked it up, whacked my creative lens on my camera, made a film and pushed myself through it. And things are going to continue getting busy as the year goes on.

At the beginning of May I'll be heading up to the Gold Coast for a photographer's retreat and I'll have a couple of days to shoot some families and/or couples. If you're on the GC and you're keen to have some photos done let me know, because I'd love to have a few shooting opportunities and am happy to do you a really good deal. I'll do you an even better deal if you're happy to let me share your photos on social media & my website!

Tuesday, 3 April 2018

Hooley Dooley! Lemme tell ya, today really snuck up on me! The long weekend really threw me and I totally forgot that it was Tuesday today, I was pretty sure it was Monday! So I'm sorry that I haven't really got much prepared, it's amazing that I managed to remember to post anything at all, I was about to head to bed!

We had a fabulous Easter weekend, capped off by spending the day yesterday exploring the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium and the Sydney Wildlife World. The girls and I went on behalf of Ellaslist to check out the attractions and share our experience & photos. It was a lot of fun, but man am I exhausted now!

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

When you're pregnant with your first baby it's impossible to think beyond the immediate constraints of that straining belly full of arms & legs. Labour & delivery is about as far in the future as you can see, the energy it takes to grow a human life inside of you leaves nothing left over with which to contemplate the future.

As your baby is born you become consumed with the endless days of feeding, changing and trying to sleep. These days will never end, or so it seems, until one day you're wrestling with a full-blown toddler who perhaps now sleeps, but refuses to do anything you tell them, and has progressed from taking their first tentative steps to running everywhere all the time. You're still too exhausted (both physically & mentally) to contemplate anything beyond the terror of toilet-training and perhaps preschool.

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

I've been wondering for the past 6 months or so about what to do for mine & Dave's 10th wedding anniversary in August. Since our very first anniversary together 15 years ago we've always marked the occasion by going away for a night (or three). We've been around regional NSW, from the south coast to Bathrust and everywhere in between. For our honeymoon (which was also essentially an anniversary trip as we got married on our 6th anniversary together) we spent 9 nights in Fiji and it was glorious.

In 2010 we spent 5 weeks travelling around the US and then the following year I was pregnant with Punky so we kept it in-country and headed up the coast to Port Stephens. The only anniversary when we haven't gone away, even for just one night, was in 2013. Let's just say having a night away would have been a bit hard after giving birth to Zee a mere 3 days earlier!!!

Because it's been so long since we've had a proper trip just the two of us I really wanted to go somewhere special this year. After all, it's not every day you celebrate your 10th wedding anniversary. But we haven't been able to agree on a destination.

Tuesday, 13 March 2018

I'll admit it... one of my favourite pastimes is watching TV. There is nothing I like better than sitting on the lounge once the girls are in bed and watching a great show. Or trash. There's nothing wrong with watching trash sometimes (cough, cough, MKR, cough, cough). These days we are spoiled for choice in how we access & consume TV, it really is a golden age for TV lovers.

Having said that, sometimes there is almost too much choice, and I'm sure we've been in that place where we finish one show, and then we sit down to find something new to watch and spend more time looking through all of the options than actually watching anything!

Tuesday, 6 March 2018

Oh autumn, how I love thee! I am so beyond glad that summer is over! I can't wait for the weather to follow suit and get nice & cool & crispy! Not to mention the beautiful golden light that autumn brings once daylight saving finishes. Yee-ha!

With the end of February it's time to share the portrait projects I took for the month. I've really enjoyed capturing their personalities this month, especially Zee who continues to be her funny, unique self in every way possible!

Tuesday, 27 February 2018

So last week I had a little spray about the state of the world and the fact that it was making me sad and I wanted to stop the world and get off. Today I thought I would flip that around and share a few things I am loving right now because I always find that taking a moment to stop and think about the wonderful things that are happening around you can be a great way to counteract that dismay.

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

I honestly don't know where to begin with this post. If you've been a long-time reader here then you'll know that from time to time I really love to get my ranty pants on and have a little spray at the things that have been annoying the heck out of me.

But here's the thing... It's gotten to the point where I've moved beyond simple irritation and even anger to downright despair and sadness.

I just can't even...!

I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older and so my capacity for accepting or ignoring bullshit has waned, or if the world really has gotten crazier. Either way, half the things I hear about these days make me shake my head and say...

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

I spend a lot of time on Instagram. It is (for obvious reasons) my favourite social media platform and I could spend hours upon hours scrolling through feed after feed. I love the pretty pictures, the story, the inspiration and the real people behind the images.

I thought today I'd share with you some of my favourite accounts to follow, knowing full well that there is no way I can do my favourite accounts justice in just one post, there are far too many. So this is part one, and just a very small selection of my favourite accounts to follow on Instagram...

Tuesday, 6 February 2018

It's been another busy week here in the Purtell Household (is it ever not?!) and with so much going on, finding the time to sit and blog and read blogs and comment has been hard, but I've made it work. On top of the back-to-school shenanigans for Punky, and heading back to preschool for Zee, I've spent the last week continuing to work on the furniture shoot I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

This week we are back on location in Avalon, in fancy houses I could only dream about living in, and thanking the Lord that we have cooler weather. Moving a truckload of homewares is sweaty work!

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

Last week we packed the kids in the car and headed in to the city to check out the Future Park exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. A friend of mine had told me about the exhibition and how much fun it was and I knew as soon as I looked it up online I just had to take the girls.

When I was a kid a trip to the Powerhouse Museum was always a highlight of the school holidays. There was just so much to see and do, and the best part? They always had interactive and kid-friendly exhibits of some kind or another.

Tuesday, 23 January 2018

I mentioned last week that I would be continuing my 52 week project of portraits of the girls into 2018. Last year, when I posted those images monthly, I titled the posts 'Shooting through 2017'. Which was most definitely appropriate.

Going forward, I thought I would simply call personal photography posts Capturing Life, in keeping with the title of this blog.

Tuesday, 16 January 2018

Oh my goodness, this last week has been CRAZY!!! It's just been go, go, go. I've barely had time to thin let alone get a blog post together, so I'm sorry but this week's it's short & sweet on the text front as I wrap up my 2017 52 week portrait project by sharing the last 4 photos of the year.

Tuesday, 9 January 2018

Ahhhh, 2018, I can't believe you're here so soon! I remember when I was a kid and getting up super early to watch the announcement of who would be the 2000 Olympic Games host. When Sydney was announced as the winner I was so excited I woke up my parents. From memory I was 11. I remember thinking how far away the year 2000 was, the idea of being 18 and in year 12 just didn't seem real. And contemplating any time beyond 2000? It felt like the stuff fiction is made of!